Activists Call For Information On Iranian Journalist

(RFE/RL) PRAGUE, 17 February 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) today said it is concerned over the fate of a jailed Iranian journalist.

Iranian authorities arrested Elham Afrutan on 23 January in the southern town of Bandar-e Abbas.


RSF tells RFE/RL that it has information that Afrutan is in a coma after attempting suicide in jail.


RSF spokesman Reza Moini says his group has called on Tehran to disclose information about Afrutan's condition.


“[As of] today there has been no information about her," Moini said. "The only information we have is the issue of her suicide attempt. Therefore we have issued a statement and called on the Islamic republics officials to give an explanation about her condition.”


Elham Afrotan and six other journalists, all working for the same newspaper, were arrested for "insulting Ayatollah [Ruhollah] Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic."


The six were reportedly arrested for a satirical piece comparing the advent of Ayatollah Khomeini to AIDS.